Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
With processors, banks, and merchants across the country buttoning down credit and debit card data to keep them out of criminal hands, processors are starting to turn their attention to the information they and their client merchants collect from automated clearing house transactions. ProPay Inc., a Lehi, Utah-based merchant processor …
Read More »PCI Council Consolidates PIN-Entry Standards into One Set of Rules
The PCI Security Standards Council on Wednesday released updated guidelines governing PIN-entry devices that incorporate all the rules into a single set of requirements. Previously, there were three separate sets of requirements for point-of-sale PIN entry devices (PED), encrypting PIN pads (EPP), and unattended payment terminals (UPT). Version 3.0 of …
Read More »Volume Perks up for Heartland, While Breach Costs Exceed $100 Million
Reflecting recent trends noted by the payment card networks, merchant processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. reported on Thursday that it is beginning to see a turnaround in charge volume at merchants battered for the past two years by the retrenchment in consumer spending. Heartland also disclosed that it has expensed …
Read More »The Senate Attaches Interchange Regs to Financial-Reform Bill
The battle over interchange regulation continues to heat up, with the introduction this week of amendments to financial regulatory reform legislation pending in the U.S. Senate that would target the controversial fees charged to merchants. The three amendments, sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and co-sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy, …
Read More »Both Credit & Debit Rise for Visa, Along with Acquirer Fees
Visa Inc.'s U.S. debit card purchase volumes again put on a strong performance in the quarter ending March 31 and the battered credit card sector continued a revival first seen in late 2009. Merchant acquirers, however, are paying more to process Visa transactions, and they can expect another price increase …
Read More »Congress Breaks Its Silence on Interchange with a New Hearing
After months of inactivity on interchange regulation, the U.S. House of Representatives judiciary committee on Wednesday held a hearing on one bill advocated by national merchant groups. And while the committee took no action, one merchant group views the hearing as a hopeful sign that legislation will be passed. The …
Read More »Square Founders Get Rock Star Welcome But Give Few Details
The founders of the much-hyped Square Inc. payments system may have wowed a full-house crowd of bankers on Monday, but they added little to public understanding of how their product will actually work and how it will stack up competitively with similar offerings for mobile merchants. While polite and talkative …
Read More »Apriva Challenges USA Technologies in Cashless-Vending Market
The cashless vending machine payment market is about to get more competitive. Apriva Inc., a specialist in wireless payment technology, this week introduced its Apriva Vend system. With it, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Apriva is throwing its hat into a ring dominated by USA Technologies Inc., which says it welcomes the new …
Read More »Just Days After Its Debut, Square Changes Its Processing Fees
Square Inc., the new payment system from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, has adjusted its merchant pricing less than three weeks after its debut. Merchants will pay more on card-present transactions under $100 and less on bigger sales compared with the original plan. Card-not-present transactions, however, will cost more until a …
Read More »Visa Deepens E-Commerce Roots with $2 Billion CyberSource Deal
In a move calculated to expand its business in e-commerce and mobile transactions, Visa Inc. on Wednesday said it will buy CyberSource Corp., an online gateway and merchant acquirer, for $2 billion in cash. The deal, which is expected to close by Sept. 30, brings together the world's largest payment …
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